Wavegarden Scotland, the company which will develop Scotland’s first artificial surf park, officially received planning permission from Edinburgh to redevelop Craigpark Quarry near Ratho.

Wavegarden Scotland is a first for the country and will now transform the disused quarry into a world-class visitor attraction. Work will begin on site over the coming months and the facility is expected to be open to the public in late Spring 2021.

Project planners said they see Wavegarden Scotland as bringing long term socio-economic, recreational and tourism benefits to the local community of Ratho.

Estimates include £500,000 worth of financial contributions to community facilities and infrastructure through a planning obligations agreement. Alongside this, Wavegarden Scotland expects to create up to 130 jobs and generate up to £11m for the local economy every year.

Andy Hadden, the co-founder of Tartan Leisure Ltd which is developing Wavegarden Scotland said, “We are delighted that Wavegarden Scotland has been approved and we can now start work on site to create this wonderful addition to Scotland’s sporting and leisure scene. We know that this facility will deliver many benefits for the local community and for Scotland.”

While there is much speculation on the coming wave pool boom and whether new developments will be exclusive golf club resorts, condo centre pieces or timeshare buy-ins, the Scotts are following the Adventure Parc Snowdonia model. By using an abandoned site and building leisure infrastructure, Wavegarden Scotland hopes to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. In 2017 Adventure Parc Snowdonia saw 155,000 guests.